NWBF appeals to South African High Commission on visas

The Nigeria Wheelchair Basketball Federation (NWBF) has appealed to the South African High Commission in Lagos to waive some visa conditions for its athletes and officials travelling to South Africa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the federation’s 12 players and five officials had since Feb. 2 filed their passports for visas for the U-23 championship in South Africa.

The federation’s Secretary, Victor Anusa, told NAN on Thursday in Lagos that the four-day competition would hold from March 29 to April 3. Anusa added that they planned to depart Nigeria on March 26, to enable them acclimatise ahead of the tournament.

“The High Commission’s delays in processing visas is threatening our South Africa trip. The delay from the High Commission is no longer healthy to our plans, considering the short time left. We passed through a rigorous time of scrutiny at the High Commission, which is consuming our precious time in preparation for the competition. The rigours we have been going through in the last five weeks is frustrating and deliberately time-wasting,” he said.

The secretary said that the High Commission gave some conditions for processing visas, which, he said, the federation had satisfied some.

“The conditions are many and are not easy to come by, so the High Commission should waive the rest, because this is not the first time we will be in South Africa for competitions,” he said.

The secretary appealed to the High Commission to consider the physical conditions of the athletes, saying that it had been difficult for the federation to transport them to the High Commission’s office in Ikeja in the last five weeks.